Category: Foreign Imports

Welcome to the Mahoning Valley Podcast for 12/20/16. We are going to look at what’s trending on Social Media this week. Not everyone who is interested in the Mahoning Valley wants to use Social Media, so this episode is for you too. I also enjoy adding a little commentary of my own to this effort. Some maybe you agree with, some maybe you don’t. We are also going to hear from a guest as to why podcasting is such a unique content format. I will also throw in a couple of Public Service Announcements for good measure, so stick with us for this episode.

Over on youtube, Saturday Night Live got a big boost with their Skit on Hilary Clinton. If you didn’t catch it, I won’t spoil it for you now, let’s just say that she is portrayed as doing a grassroots effort to stay the hand of the Electoral College from officially electing Mr Trump as our President on December 19th. By the time this hits the interweb, the vote will be cast. According to the National Archive, it won’t be officially counted and announced by Congress until January 6 2017.

Here is a little more about what to expect on Counting Day. The Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes. Congress may pass a law to change this date.

The Vice President, as President of the Senate, presides over the count and announces the results of the Electoral College vote. The President of the Senate then declares which persons, if any, have been elected President and Vice President of the United States.

If a State submits conflicting sets of electoral votes to Congress, the two Houses acting concurrently may accept or reject the votes. If they do not concur, the votes of the electors certified by the Governor of the State on the Certificate of Ascertainment would be counted in Congress.

If no Presidential candidate wins 270 or more electoral votes, a majority, the 12th Amendment to the Constitution provides for the House of Representatives to decide the Presidential election. If necessary the House would elect the President by majority vote, choosing from the three candidates who received the greatest number of electoral votes. The vote would be taken by state, with each state having one vote.

If no Vice Presidential candidate wins 270 or more electoral votes, a majority, the 12th Amendment provides for the Senate to elect the Vice President. If necessary, the Senate would elect the Vice President by majority vote, choosing from the two candidates who received the greatest number of electoral votes. The vote would be taken by state, with each Senator having one vote.

If any objections to the Electoral College vote are made, they must be submitted in writing and be signed by at least one member of the House and one Senator. If objections are presented, the House and Senate withdraw to their respective chambers to consider their merits under procedures set out in federal law.

December 19th may well go down in infamy as the day that The United States of America became the Divided States of Donald Trump.

Needless to say, as of this writing, Twitter is also buzzing loudly with noise about the Electoral College. Twitter is a much more outspoken media than most though for those of you who do not follow Twitter Trends. Much more expressive and vitriolic in my opinion. Even Donald Trump himself is known for openly expressing his opinion much to the detriment of his soon to be appointment to govern this fine nation of ours.

Facebook is not so much concerned with the Electoral College today as it is with the assassination of a Russian Diplomat today 12/19/16. According to CNN.com “Mevlut Mert Altintas, an off-duty police officer, was the gunman who assassinated the Russian ambassador to Turkey on Monday, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a press conference. The attacker was born in 1994 in the town of Soke in Turkey’s Aydin province, he said. Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency reported that the gunman has been neutralized. But it was not immediately clear whether the attacker was killed or captured by police as of this writing.”

Cnn.com continued “Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was assassinated at an art exhibition in Ankara on Monday, after the gunman shouted, “Do not forget Aleppo!” as he opened fire.

The shooting of Ambassador Andrey Karlov was captured on video. Russia’s foreign ministry described it as a “terror attack.”

If you have been following mainstream media, then you know that the situation in #Aleppo has become ridiculously tragic. People under constant threat of death and destruction as government forces and ideologists fight it out. Personal opinion, if your ideology is causing to you to do harm to anyone, it is probably time to rethink.

It also seems somewhat ironic that on the same day we saw security footage depicting a cell phone blow up on someone’s face, we also have the Samsung Galaxy 8 trending on both twitter and Facebook. I am thinking Samsung may have bought the trend. Not that I can prove this, it is not too hard to buy trends on facebook or twitter. If your pockets are deep enough. If you have a very large budget for 2017 (think at least 5 million dollars per quarter), contact me and we can discuss how you can bring your product or service into a trending position on twitter or facebook. And let me know if you believe it is possible to buy trends on any of the places you may find this transcript or podcast.

What else is trending on youtube this week? Korean Bar-b-Que If you ever wondered if you get what you pay for, check this video. These nice young men decided to check out the difference between barbecue that costs 24.00 and 346.00. Apparently Korean barbecue is pretty popular in modern cuisine these days, cause this video garnered over 3 million 6 hundred thousand views by the time of this writing. To be fair, the Channel that is displaying this video has over 11 million subscribers and apparently has been running these food price comparison videos for some time.

Here is a story you won’t see reported on the mainstream media this week, (Most likely anyway)

So we will head back to Samsung. There is a movement going on to ask the manufacturer to compensate their employees for diseases caused through the manufacture of Smart Phones. According to Green America “Since 2007, more than 70 Samsung factory workers have died due to work-related diseases and hundreds have fallen ill, according to SHARPS, an occupational health advocacy group in South Korea.

Courts in Korea have sided with one victim, ruling her leukemia was caused by dangerous chemicals she was exposed to at work. Seven years after her death, Samsung finally issued an apology to workers in 2014.

In July 2015, Samsung finally agreed to pay victims $85.8 million in compensation—in line with the recommendations of the Mediation Committee. However, so far, Samsung has ignored the core recommendation of this committee: to fund an independent non-profit foundation that will determine how to fairly distribute compensation to workers for their diseases and how to develop an effective strategy for assessing and incorporating safer chemicals into production, in order to prevent future diseases.”

Authorities have apprehended the suspected driver, according to a police spokesman.

The crash occurred in Breitscheidplatz in the western part of central Berlin. Another person who was in the truck died on scene, Berlin police tweeted. “A truck just ran over a sidewalk at #Breitscheidplatz Our colleague report multiple injuries. more to follow,” Berlin police tweeted.

The “accident” is being investigated as an act of terror.

So now for some of my opinion. The mainstream media is conspiring with the criminals who commit these crimes whether they are attributed to ideology or simple human criminality. It is not a conscious choice on the part of the media. Yet, many times some one commits a criminal act regardless whether a motive is known or not, rather then simply identify the act as criminal, it is sensationalized as an act of terror. EVERY criminal act is an act of terror to the victim. Does this mean that we are to differentiate between terroristic motives and other motives?

How is it a conspiracy? Well by identifying the alleged perpetrators. If Al Qeada or ISIS or ISIL whatever they want to call themselves claim responsibility for some criminal act, they get exactly what they want from the mainstream media. Publicity and the furtherance of their goals to inspire terror. Why would a responsible journalistic organization give credence to a claim that so and so committed a criminal act without proof? In fact, in America; any allegations of criminality must be proven in a court of law before it is considered to be fact.

So what can our mainstream media outlets do? That is the usual question. Well, what do you expect them to do? I expect any reporter or journalist to stick with verifiable facts. I expect that using sensational terms such as “act of terror” or “terrorism” be reduced to the much more accurate terms “criminal act” or “criminality” And that no attribution be made to any group or individual unless it has been proven in a court of law. Why? You may ask. This means that no matter what any criminals do, they never get credit for it. They get no play on the media. They are simply identified as criminals without any name or ideology. And when their free publicity dies out, they will have to find some other way to terrorize people.

We are going to listen some to award winning Podcast Host, Producer, and Consultant Daniel Lewis discuss why podcasting is a unique and perfect media for reaching your audience and gaining the trust of your subscribers and audience. So we have some excerpts from Audacity to Podcast along with my personal commentary. If you enjoy the excerpts, feel free to subscribe on the show notes. You can also contact me if you are ready to develop your own podcast.

Why is podcasting a unique and perfect media for reaching an audience, gaining trust and establishing a unique voice in the cacophony of voices on the internet?

A quick summary of 8 points that make podcasting more intimate and unique than writing, video even TV and Radio.

So where is your content in that incredible multitude of pieces being produced and shared every minute of every day? Is your voice being heard? Or are you sounding just like everyone else? Your podcast will represent your unique point of view that people can appreciate for it’s authenticity.

And what about speaking to individuals? When you podcast, you are likely (if you are doing it well) speaking to your microphone. Or interviewing someone. And that as if it were your best friend or someone you love and care about. Why does this happen in most cases? It is natural to be much more considerate, genuine and careful when you know that you are being recorded. This comes across in your podcast and helps you to build relationships with your listeners.

And that is the third point. Podcasts help you to build relationships. Just like Social Media does if you use it properly. Building relationships is what all this Internet Stuff is all about. Although there are many different uses for the internet such as research, information gathering and disemmination, and personal and professional expression; at the heart of it all and at the beginning it was all about relating to each other.

So let’s talk about how podcasts can be taken anywhere. It maybe that you are listening today on your computer. But possibly you are listening on your phone or tablet. Whats the point? If you are an experienced podcast listener you know that you can download your podcasts and listen to them anytime and anywhere you have your phone. Or Ipod. Think about that. When you are making podcasts, your audience can listen to you anywhere. Anytime. On their schedule. No other media allows you to do this for your audience with the exception of music.

There are many creative ways of using this unique media. And I have thought through them. Not to brag, but if you have something to say either to customers or clients or prospects; we can figure it out together. And make it work. And make it worth your while. You only need contact me at mahoingvalleypodcast.com or on Facebook or Twitter. And we will figure it out. Just as an added incentive for doing so, I will respond to your inquiry with actionable ideas and if you want to work on them with me, we can do so. If you want to implement them yourself; so be it.

Yes, they are cheap. Yes, I know; they help the economy by driving consumer sales. But I still have no love for foreign imports. Whether it be cars, or kitchen appliances, or cell phones, or toys. It’s all junk in my view. And buying it causes me to become a participant in the foreign labor market. Where people have no rights in many places. Where people are treated like animals and paid horribly low wages for hard, dangerous, and dirty work.

That is one of the reasons that I discriminate against foreign imported goods. The way they are made is an affront to decent human dignity and decency in many cases. Consider the scandals of labor relations that have occurred in Asia. The linked article only details four different times and places where people have been treated like dirt. Where they were discriminated against despite trying to do honest work and earn a living wage.

And this excerpt from Salon.com. Americans have reason to cringe over the sad conditions forced on Cambodian clothing makers. The United States is the top destination for “Made in Cambodia” clothes. Major brands such as Gap, Marks & Spencer and Adidas all rely on Cambodians to stitch their clothing.

Outlets such as H&M can sell hoodies for as little as $25 because Cambodian women (almost all the workers are women) will sew for roughly 50 cents per hour.

But of course it goes beyond how foreign workers are treated in many cases. It goes to quality as well. Who has not thought to themselves after some widget broke or failed, “Chinese piece of excrement.” ? And the funny thing is that although now most of the consumer goods that we purchase are made in China, this is the second or third time around for this phenomena; although it used to be Japanese goods or Mexican goods.

What is the bottom line? If it is made somewhere other than America, it is likely to bring either labor relations problems or quality problems with it. So buy American when you can, because at least that way you know the people who made it won’t get killed for going on strike and if you don’t like the way it works, you can complain to someone who speaks the same language you do.